James B. Mabon
James Brown Mabon | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | March 10, 1941 (aged 75) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Financier |
| Known for | President of the New York Stock Exchange (1912–1914) |
James Brown Mabon (July 16, 1865 – March 10, 1941) was a prominent American financier who held the position of president of the New York Stock Exchange.
Early life
Born on July 16, 1865, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Mabon was the son of Emiline (née Deas) Mabon and Rev. Dr. William Van Vranken Mabon, a faculty member at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. His family included siblings such as Rev. Dr. Arthur Mabon among others.
Career
Mabon started his professional journey as an office boy at Brown Brothers before co-founding the brokerage firm Kingsley, Mabon & Co. alongside William M. Kingsley at 45 Wall Street. Kingsley later retired to become chairman of the United States Trust Company.
He became a member of the New York Stock Exchange in 1891 and was elected president from May 1912 until May 1914. Throughout nearly three decades with the Exchange, Mabon held several significant positions including chairman and trustee of the gratuity fund, as well as director and president roles at both the New York Quotation Company and the New York Stock Exchange Safe Deposit Company. In 1912, he was among those examined during the Pujo Committee inquiry into financial trusts.
After close to thirty years as a governor of the Exchange, Mabon stepped down in April 1929 and subsequently sold his seat in September 1931 to Rudolph Nadel, who joined Mabon & Co. as a partner. At the time of his passing, he was senior partner at Mabon & Co., which later became known as Mabon, Nugent & Co. and then Mabon Securities Corp., and he was also one of the longest-serving trustees of the Bank of New York.
Personal life
Mabon married Elise Howell Smith (1875–1961) on January 6, 1898, at New York’s Collegiate Church. Smith, daughter of Judge Abel I. Smith and affiliated with the Colonial Dames of America, resided with him at their Manhattan home on 420 Park Avenue and maintained a country estate in Norfolk, Connecticut. Together they had five children:
- James Brown Mabon Jr. (1899–1977), who wed Mary Frost from St. Louis in 1929; she was related to Frederick A. Sterling, former American Minister to the Irish Free State.
- Laura Mabon (1901–1979), married Harvey Childs III in 1921.
- Janet Mabon (1904–1965), who became wife of William W. Schott, second chargé d'affaires in Budapest.
- Kingsley Mabon, who married Martha Hall in 1938.
- Lisa Van Vranken Mabon (circa 1918–1993), married John Martin Trent in 1941.
In 1922, artist S. Seymour Thomas completed a portrait of Mabon.
He passed away suddenly from a heart attack at his residence on Park Avenue in March 1941. His widow later moved to 570 Park Avenue and died in May 1961 at Litchfield County Hospital located in Winsted, Connecticut.